FIS want shorter champs

"We are considering making them a few days shorter to satisfy demands by broadcasters," Kasper told Reuters in Are, where the 2007 world championships end on Sunday.

Races in the current championships are spread out over 16 days. Organisers of the next one, in 2009 in the French Alps resort of Val d'Isere, are planning to hold them over 15 days, taking out the final Sunday, but Kasper said that might change.

"We're thinking about starting on the Wednesday instead of the Saturday from 2009," Kasper said.

The FIS would like the championships to end on a Sunday, in which case they would last 12 days.

Val d'Isere organisers, however, would like to finish on a Saturday in order to avoid a clash with holiday reservations for the following week, which traditionally start on the Sunday.

Under the new format, mandatory training runs for both downhills would be staged before the official start of the championships.

Kasper said a final decision would be made at the next FIS council meeting in May in Portoroz, Slovenia.